It's Come Down to This...

When I first felt that now familiar tug in my heart toward the beauty of adoption, I had many visions of what it may look like, feel like. None of those visions were correct.
Something in our lives apparently caught up with our hearts, because Father God finally gave us the go ahead in October 2007. Again, what we envisioned then is nothing like it turned out to be. I recently finished Nya's "introduction" video for the day of celebration- March 26- when we can show off our girl to the world. While putting it together, I found myself reflecting on what a real journey this has been. From start, to almost finish, it has been a wild ride.
Twice throughout this journey, we felt we might adopt two different sets of children. They were placed in our paths and although we were certain we had some kind of role in thier lives, we didn't know what that would be. Each time, the Lord gently but definitively showed us we were to be helpers in their lives but not parents to these children. They had parents coming and we weren't them. It was hard to have those doors closed, but it felt right and it was right.
Twice now, we've submitted to mildly insulting questioning (you do realize you will have black descendents now?), background checks, thorough physical assessments (yep, our tickers should get us through until the kids are 18), intrusions into our finances and childhoods, etc.
For 8 months we wandered in an emotional and spiritual desert where we felt the pain of unfulfilled longing, where we became way more acquainted with the suffering of people all around the world, where our eyes were opened and our hearts were torn and we were no longer comfortable at all with living out the American dream or whatever it was we were striving for previously.
Now, it's come down to this. Twenty itty bitty days until our family is complete and Nya has parents and we have a daughter and the boys have a sister! March 26th will be one of the best days of our lives.